Dog's owner cited for horrible living conditions

You could say Toby the dog is lucky now. He has a dry place to stay, he's clean, he has food and water – and he's safe. It was a much different story just a few days ago. His owner has been cited for animal cruelty.

"He's not in the greatest of condition- he needs some TLC," said Ria Brown of Lee County Domestic Animal Services.

Animal control says Toby, a pit bull mix, was chained to a tree, lived in standing water and was surrounded by his own feces. And his dog house was rotting.

"The shelter was totally inappropriate. There was no flooring in it. It was under water," said Brown.

Officers reported that Toby didn't have any food or drinking water either.

Lee County deputies discovered Toby behind a home on Moreno Avenue after they heard a dog crying as if it were in distress.

"No one would claim ownership of the dog, so we did impound the dog because of its condition, and then had citations for cruelty pending," said Brown.

As veterinarians nursed Toby back to health, investigators figured out who the owners were.

Animal control officers issued them animal cruelty citations.

Deputies say one of Toby's owners, Marcus Gollman, refused to sign the citation, which is illegal.

2018-03-17T20:57:05Z2018-03-17T20:57:04ZJailhouse video reveals California sheriff’s deputies watching and sometimes laughing as a schizophrenic man who had been strapped naked to a chair for 46 hours writhes on the floor of his cell, loses consciousness and eventually dies.